Jeeves and the Yule-Tide Spirit
"Jeeves and the Yule-Tide Spirit" (U.S. title "Jeeves and the Yuletide Spirit") is a humorous short story by the British author P.G. Wodehouse. It was first published in the December 1927 issue of the Strand Magazine in England and in the December 24, 1927 issue of the Liberty magazine in the United States. The story was subsequently collected in the anthology Very Good, Jeeves! (1930). The story features Wodehouse's most famous literary creations, the young gentleman of leisure Bertie Wooster and his brilliant valet Jeeves. Bertie has more than the Yuletide spirit in his mind when he accepts an invitation to spend Christmas at Lady Wickham's country house; love and revenge. He is in love with Lady Wickham's daughter Roberta. He is also looking for an opportunity to get back at a fellow guest, the practical joker Tuppy Glossop. Bertie tells Roberta about the mean trick Tuppy played on him. To his delight, Roberta lends him a sympathetic ear and suggests a great plan for the perfect revenge. The plan goes terribly wrong, however, and Bertie discovers that Jeeves may be to blame for the fiasco. The story has been adapted for radio and television. Plot Bertie Wooster receives an invitation from Lady Wickham to spend Christmas at her country house. The invitation is followed by a telephone call from Bertie's fearsome aunt Agatha Gregson. Aunt Agatha informs Bertie that among the guests will be Sir Roderick Glossop, the noted psychiatrist and the formidable father of Honoria Glossop to whom Bertie was once accidentally engaged.Bertie's accidental engagement and Jeeves-assisted disengagement are chronicled in the 1922 short stories "Scoring off Jeeves" and "Sir Roderick Comes to Lunch". Both stories are collected in The Inimitable Jeeves (1923). Aunt Agatha warns Bertie to behave himself and not spoil her efforts because she has almost succeeded in persuading Sir Roderick that Bertie is "not actually insane." Bertie is afraid of Sir Roderick. He has also been planning to visit Monte Carlo immediately after Christmas. Nevertheless, he decides to accept the invitation. Bertie arrives at the country house on the twenty-third accompanied by his valet Jeeves. Sensing Jeeves' disappointment at the cancellation of the Monte Carlo trip, Bertie decides to tell him the reasons why he accepted the invitation. Bertie says he knew Sir Roderick's nephew Tuppy Glossop was also invited. Bertie has been looking for an opportunity to get back at Tuppy for making him fall into the swimming bath at the club. In addition, Bertie confesses that he is in love with Lady Wickham's attractive daughter Roberta. He is disappointed to learn that Jeeves thinks Miss Wickham is too frivolous and unsuitable as a matrimonial prospect. Before dinner on Christmas Eve, Bertie happily informs Jeeves that Miss Wickham was sympathetic when he told her about the mean trick Tuppy had played on him. He says she even suggested an excellent scheme for revenge based on her experience at the girls' school she attended. Bertie intends to sneak into Tuppy's bedroom in the middle of the night and puncture his hot-water bottle using a long stick with a darning needle attached to it. He asks Jeeves to secure the implements and find out where Tuppy sleeps. Jeeves returns shortly to report that Tuppy is in the Moat Room on the floor below Bertie's bedroom. Everything is quiet by 2:30am as Bertie sneaks into the Moat Room with the stick. Encouraged by the loud snoring coming from the bed, Bertie feels around for the hot-water bottle and stabs it with the stick. Bertie then begins to retreat toward the door which he intentionally left open for a quick escape. Just at that moment, the door slams shut with a loud bang. A voice yells out "Who's that?" Bertie is certain it is not Tuppy's voice. He hurries out of the room and shuts the door behind him. Unfortunately, his dressing gown gets caught in the door. Before he can untangle himself, the door opens and Sir Roderick Glossop grabs him. Bertie apologizes to Sir Roderick and explains that he thought it was Tuppy's room. Sir Roderick tells him that he changed rooms with his nephew because he does not like sleeping on an upper floor. He is surprised that Jeeves did not inform Bertie about the switch. Bertie is shocked to hear that Jeeves knew and did not warn him. In the mean time, Sir Roderick notices the stick in Bertie's hand. He then sees water dripping from the bed. Refusing to listen to Bertie's explanation, Sir Roderick moves into Bertie's bedroom and leaves Bertie to spend the night in the Moat Room. Bertie falls asleep in the arm chair and is awakened by Jeeves in the morning. Jeeves wishes him a merry Christmas, but Bertie will not exchange pleasantries with the suspected traitor. He questions Jeeves and is scandalized when Jeeves admits he knew about the room change. Jeeves then explains that he let the embarrassing mistake happen in order to preserve the distant relationship Bertie has with Sir Roderick and his family – because he knew how Bertie felt about Honoria. Bertie suddenly realizes that Jeeves has saved him: Aunt Agatha had been scheming to repair his relationship with Sir Roderick in order to marry him off to Honoria. Bertie is now grateful to Jeeves, but he is afraid that Sir Roderick may still forgive him in the Yuletide spirit. Jeeves assures him it is unlikely because Sir Roderick is rather upset this morning. After Sir Roderick went to sleep in Bertie's room, his hot-water bottle was once again punctured. Jeeves has since learned that Tuppy Glossop is responsible for the mischief, and that it was Miss Wickham, with her "keen sense of humor", who suggested the idea to Tuppy. Bertie is stunned to realize he was double-crossed. He declares his love for Miss Wickham dead. Wishing to avoid the furious Sir Roderick, Bertie decides to take Jeeves' advice and slip out by the back entrance. He is afraid to go back to London, however, to face Aunt Agatha. Jeeves recommends leaving England for a while. He reveals that, fortunately, he had forgotten to cancel their reservations for Monte Carlo. Adaptations "Tuppy and the Terrier", an episode of the British comedy drama series Jeeves and Wooster that stars Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie, is loosely based on "Jeeves and the Yule-Tide Spirit" as well as on the P.G. Wodehouse stories "Episode of the Dog Macintosh" and "Jeeves and the Song of Songs". The episode was first shown on the ITV network in the United Kingdom on April 29, 1990. A reading of "Jeeves and the Yule-Tide Spirit" by actor Martin Jarvis in front of an invited theater audience, part of the Jeeves Live series, was first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in the United Kingdom on December 17, 2017. Footnotes Category:Short Stories Category:Comedy Category:Christmas stories Category:Classic